My grandmother told me how her mother made such pies during the first world war in France. With rationing for the war effort you were limited to what you could make purchases on at the market. So they often used whatever they had on hand.

I made one of these pies for some elderly friends. Nona said she'd cut into the pie one morning and had a small slice. She was surprised to taste pears and cherries in an apple pie. Her husband Bob, an aficionado of apple pie, had the rest of the pie eaten before noon.